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The Habs will give Kirby Dach every opportunity to produce

Kirby Dach’s situation is the talk of the town these days, with many questioning his health and hoping he’ll be ready for the start of the season. However, whether or not he starts the campaign, he needs to make sure he’s 100% physically and mentally, because as my colleague Marc-Olivier Cook wrote, this could be Dach’s last chance.

Despite some good flashes, the Alberta native has failed to produce consistently and establish himself as a top-6 forward with the Canadiens. Last season, which was cut short by injury, was particularly difficult for the 24-year-old center, who scored just 22 points, including 10 goals, in 57 games.

Worse, Dach finished with a minus-29 rating, and his struggles in his defensive zone often put the Habs in trouble. Now, the center is approaching the final year of his four-year, $13.45 million contract ($3,362,500 per year), and should he experience another difficult campaign, it could well be his last with the Habs.

However, as Brian Wilde says on The Sick Podcast, Dach could also benefit from a very favourable situation as the organization looks to maximize his chances of success.

[content-ads] We’re going to give him every opportunity to come through and be a good hockey player this year. Remember that the acquisition of Dach, in return for Alexander Romanov, was one of Kent Hughes’ first major transactions, and also one of his worst so far.

It’s safe to assume that the Habs won’t want to let Dach go for nothing at the end of the season, which leaves the club with two options: trade him or re-sign him. And in either case, to make it worthwhile, the Canadiens need to ensure that the center has a good season, ideally as the pivot of the second line. This should translate into time on the power play, quality wingers and offensive zone face-offs.

So if Kent Hughes and the organization want to make sure they don’t look too bad in the Dach trade, he should be given some good playing opportunities this season and it’ll be up to him to take advantage of them.

[spacer title=’Overtime’] – Alejandro Kirk puts the Jays on the scoreboard.

– Two-point home run for Marcus Semien.

– A little football.

– Record for the Valkiries.

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Luke Hughes’ next contract will give a good indication of Lane Hutson’s next contract

Luke Hughes’ next contract will give a good clue to Lane Hutson’s Unless there’s a surprise deal, the Canadiens’ next big announcement should be the signing of Lane Hutson. Next season, the defenseman will complete the final year of his three-year NHL entry-level contract worth $950,000 a year. Needless to say, the 21-year-old should see a substantial salary increase.

However, as negotiations between the Habs and Hutson remain at a standstill, one wonders why they are taking so long to reach an agreement. On this subject, Marco D’Amico, who spoke to BPM Sports, is reassuring on several points: “I want to be clear on this, Lane Hutson absolutely wants to stay in Montreal, it’s not even a debate. He’s in love with this city and he’s in love with you, the fans

[content-ads] So no worries there.

According to D’Amico, the organization and the Hutson clan are in constant conversation to reach an agreement. Both parties want to find a middle ground where the young defenseman will be paid what he’s worth without feeling ripped off by the team a few seasons from now.

Current negotiations between players and their teams are more complicated, given the significant increase in the salary cap that began this year and is expected to continue until at least 2027-28, when it could reach $113.5 million. This makes some players reluctant to make long-term commitments in the hope of earning a little more in a few years’ time.

As I explained recently, the signing of Connor McDavid and Kirill Kaprizov should establish a new salary scale across the NHL. In Hutson’s case, he and the Canadiens organization must instead keep an eye on the negotiations between Luke Hughes, who is still a compensated free agent, and the New Jersey Devils. This contract could establish a good basis of comparison for Hutson’s.

Don’t be surprised if the young defenseman becomes the Habs’ highest-paid player when he signs his next contract. Personally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the American earn at least $10 million a year, and if the Canadiens can sign him for eight years, it could quickly become a good deal for the club. Especially since Hutson hasn’t yet reached his full potential. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – What do you think?

– Solid three-point shot.

– Already 100 points produced for Cal Raleigh.

– It’s far, far away!

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Beto-game: Hutson, Heiskanen and Fox have almost the same odds to win the Norris

Lane Hutson has it all for Canadiens fans. He’s (very) talented, electrifying, likeable and a hockey fanatic, and Habs fans were very pleased with his Calder Trophy-winning performance. He certainly surprised many in his rookie season, and has what it takes to exceed expectations in his second NHL season.

He’ll be more experienced, just like the rest of the young core, plus he’ll have Ivan Demidov on the ice to create some two-man magic. And it’ll be interesting to see where he stands among the NHL’s top defensemen, as we know he’s bound to pick up a lot of points, once again. Can we talk about the Norris Trophy? It’s still early days, but he could certainly get some votes, having received a third-place vote in the last poll in his rookie season. I decided to take a look at the odds for the Norris on Mise-o-jeu, and something surprised me greatly (and pleasantly). Hutson’s odds are 30 (so, you’re making 30 times your bet if he wins the trophy). But some very big names in #1 defensemen really aren’t that far off the odds for the little habs defender.

In fact, Miro Heiskanen, Adam Fox and Evan Bouchard all have similar odds, at 25.

(Credit: Mise-o-jeu)

[content-ads]It just goes to show, once again, how much Hutson’s reputation has risen after just one NHL season.

I say again, because NHL Network recently ranked Hutson among the NHL’s top 20 defensemen (19th). Notice in the photo above that Hutson has exactly the same rating as Roman Josi. Although Josi is 35, he’s still an excellent defenseman and scored 85 points, including 23 goals, two years ago. And that’s without mentioning his 96-point season in 2021-22. In short, Hutson is certainly in good company for next season. Let’s see how many points he collects and where he ranks among the league’s best. My prediction: 71 points. And yours? [spacer title=’En rafale’] – Shea Weber is part of NHL Network’s Quarter Century Team.

– Read on.

– What a relay.

– How about a techno song by Connor McDavid?[HockeyFeed]

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David Reinbacher: Habs is excited… but he’ll take his time with it

When you think of the Canadiens’ top prospects – especially on defense – the name David Reinbacher comes to mind. Which, in fact, makes sense. The Canadiens didn’t select him with the 5th overall pick in 2023 for nothing, after all. And we know the Habs like him a lot. But even if they see him becoming a good defenseman in Montreal, that doesn’t mean they’re going to rush things. Far from it, in fact. Kent Hughes(NHL.com) is aware that Reinbacher could cause a bit of a surprise at camp – especially since right-handed defensemen aren’t exactly a dime a dozen in Montreal right now.But if the Austrian is going to start the season in Laval… so be it:

[content-ads] Seeing the Habs wanting to take their time with Reinbacher is a good thing.

And I say that… especially when I think of the defenseman’s last two seasons. Because let’s not forget: in 23-24, it was extremely difficult for him in Kloten because of his club’s situation. It ended well in Laval, but he may not have had as much opportunity to progress as we would have liked on the Habs side, and… we know that he wasn’t able to play much last season because of the serious knee injury he suffered during the Canadiens’ 2024 practice camp.

The important thing is to give him the chance to progress at his own pace. It can take longer for a defenseman, everyone knows that… and the Canadiens know they have to give him the opportunity to take his time.That’s a good thing.

[spacer title=’Overtime’ – Will Lane Hutson ever spend one of these players?

– Canada defeated.

– Oh.

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Ivan Demidov: a projected 61 points this season

How many points will Ivan Demidov get this season? Obviously, we know that several factors (besides his performance) will affect his point total: his powerplay role, his linemates, etc. But the question still arises. After all, we agree that the quality of his performances will make the Canadiens a more dangerous team or a more ordinary one.No pressure, kid… it’s just a fact.

It’s interesting to note, at a time when everyone has an opinion on what would be a good or bad rookie season for Demidov, that the NHL website has made its projections in connection with the file, and here they are projecting 61 points for Demidov, five less than Lane Hutson in 2024-2025.

[content-ads]61 points would put him just behind the 63 points projected for Juraj Slafkovsky. It would also put him behind Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, who could score 72 and 90 points, respectively, according to the same projections.Lane Hutson is also projected at 70 points, by the way. But otherwise, no other Habs forward is projected at more than 50 points, among those in the rankings. Zachary Bolduc (45), Patrik Laine (48) and Kirby Dach (42) are all under 50.Dach at 42 points, can we believe it?So theoretically, unless the NHL model is very much in love with Alex Newhook or Josh Anderson, Demidov should be the Canadiens’ fifth-best scorer. That’s pretty conservative. And I think it’s realistic.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Read on.

–

– To be continued.

– Team Canada: Nazem Kadri wanted his chance.[TVAS] – Oh yeah?

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Ivan Demidov didn’t change his number this summer

Ivan Demidov, in 2024-2025, wore #91 with SKA. When he arrived in Montreal, we wondered if he would take his #91, which belonged to Oliver Kapanen. Kapanen wore #91 in both Montreal and Laval,but in the end, he didn’t do it. He didn’t want to ask Kapanen to change his number, so he took the #93 to finish the season. He didn’t want to cause a squabble or create controversy at the end of the season, when he’d just landed in town. # Butthis summer, we wanted to keep an eye on the matter. After all, it had been the talk of the town during the season, and we noticed that every time we saw Demidov in a Canadiens jersey this summer, he was wearing the #93 with which he finished the 2024-2025 season

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Is it possible that Demidov has changed his number and that it hasn’t yet been announced or made official? Bof.But from what we’ve heard through the grapevine, at the moment there are no plans underway in Montreal to change the Russian player’s number. content-ads]It’s important to know that to change a player’s number, he has to request it. And it’s also important to know that if he wants to do so, he has to say so early enough in the summer. After all, companies that sell jerseys have to prepare accordingly. It’s not clear whether the date for doing so has passed or not, but what we do know is that when Cole Caufield changed his number in early September 2024, he had passed the deadline for doing so.

He was allowed to go ahead, however, since the NHL understood that he had taken #13 to honor the memory of his good friend Johnny Gaudreau, who tragically passed away in August 2024.So we can assume that the date isn’t just a few days away from training camp in 2025, so…

Cole Caufield, who wears No. 13 in honor of Johnny Gaudreau, met with Guy Gaudreau after Montreal’s Game 3 win last night.

❤ #StanleyCup

(📸: IG/kgaudreau13)[image or embed]– NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) April 26, 2025 at 1:39 PM

[content-ads]Let’s remember that Oliver Kapanen isn’t guaranteed to start the season in Montreal, and there’s a chance that #91 will simply be available at the start of the year. But in the event of a recall, until proven otherwise, #91 belongs to Kapanen. Iguess keeping #93 (the year of the 24th Stanley Cup) is a personal choice for Demidov, but it’s also possible that Kapanen is holding on to his number.In my opinion, Demidov just hasn’t made a case for it.

The many fans who bought Demidov a #93 jersey in April should be happy to see that, for the time being, there are no plans to change that. Remember that, before Kapanen, Sean Monahan and Scott Gomez wore #91. As for #93, Demidov dusted off a number that had belonged only to Doug Gilmour until then.

[spacer title=’Overtime’]- To read.

– All’s well that ends well.

– The Preds want to bounce back.[TVAS] – Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Fp-TojA_0

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Lane Hutson will have 19 more points than Noah Dobson, according to NHL projections

Lane Hutson could hardly be more beloved in Montreal than he already is. Hisprowess this season has quickly made him a crowd favorite. Will it be the second-year jinx? If we look at what the NHL website projects for the defenseman, we can clearly expect Lane Hutson’s second season to live up to expectations. I say that because,in fantasy terms, the American is ranked eighth among NHL defensemen. And when it comes to projecting his point total, Chris Meaney’s NHL article tells us that we can expect 70 points this season.

That’s more than all the players quoted in the article (which talks about the Canadiens only) who aren’t Cole Caufield (72) or Nick Suzuki (90), which is no mean feat.

[content-ads]When you compare him to Noah Dobson, who is an established NHL defenseman, you can see that Hutson is well regarded. After all, the Habs’ new defenseman ranks 20th among defensemen in fantasy… and is projected to score 51 points. That’s 19 fewer than Hutson, though. His agent must be happy to read this, as he’ll want to play comparison games.Remember that Dobson signed a contract worth $9.5 million a year for eight years in Montreal. But that doesn’t mean Hutson will earn more, as he has only 84 games of experience in the show. #NegotiatingPower #AutonomyBut let’s say if Hutson waits to sign and really goes for 70 points… he’ll help his cause.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Wow.

– To be continued.

– To read.

– Why?

😳

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Kent Hughes “hopes” Kirby Dach will be ready early in the season: it doesn’t look good

A few days ago, our colleague Maxime Truman mentioned that forward Kirby Dach had not yet recovered from the knee injury he suffered over the past few months. This left us wondering whether Dach would be available for the start of practice next month.Because whether he’s available or not, it’s a game-changer for the Habs. #TheFamousSecondCenterBut finally, it’s the Canadiens’ GM, Kent Hughes, who has provided an answer to the question of the center. And let’s just say he doesn’t sound the most confident of men, the GM.

We’re hoping he’ll be ready, either at the start of the season or at some point early in the fall.

–

Kent Hughes on Kirby Dach

So not only is the GM unable to say he’ll be 100% ready for camp, he’s also unable to confirm that he’ll start the season. He’s “hoping” he’ll be ready.This leads us to believe that, no, Dach hasn’t recovered from his knee injury, has he?

[content-ads]The observation was made by Kent Hughes on the heels of an interview with NHL.com, which rounds up the league’s 32 teams this summer. Adam Kimelman’s articleeven suggests ways to restructure the center line if Dach can’t start the season. Alex Newhook, unsurprisingly, is the prime candidate to move up to the top-6, so yes, there’s plenty to worry about right now with Dach, who could not only start the season late, but will need time to build confidence in his knee. Remember, the center is at the end of his contract, eligible to become a restricted free agent in July 2026. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- A new name for the Lightning arena.

– He’ll be in demand.

– True.

– The neck guard issue is the talk of the town. [NYT] – Really?

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Marc-Édouard Vlasic: He wasn’t tempted to return to San Jose

Marc-Édouard Vlasic’s NHL stint in San Jose didn’t end well. The Sharks bought out his defenseman contract, and now the man who is expecting a child with Frédérique Guay is free as a bird.Vlasic was drafted by the club in 2005 and played 1,323 games for the Sharks.andI say that… because this sentence, taken from a text by Stéphane Cadorette(Journal de Québec), is quite revealing: “

I wasn’t tempted to go back there for another season. I could say more, but I don’t want to put anyone off.

–

Marc-Édouard Vlasic

The text was also published on TVA Sports:

[content-ads] Let’s not forget that in the last two years, Vlasic hasn’t played every game for the Sharks.

The defenseman has been left out on several occasions and at this level… it played a role in how he felt because he doesn’t want to repeat what he did this year.

Vlasic is currently out of contract and it makes you wonder if any club will decide to call him up. If they do, I expect it to be with a PTO… because we’re still talking about a 38-year-old player who’s slowing down year by year and who’s only played 84 games in the last two seasons.

He’s proven himself in the National League, he’s been one of the league’s good defensive players for several years… and maybe that’ll encourage a club to give him a chance too. To be continued. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Too bad.

🇨🇦🇺🇸

– Sick.

– GSP having fun.

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Kirby Dach: It’s now… or never

Do you remember your reaction when Gary Bettman took the podium at the 2022 draft to announce the Alex Romanov deal? In fact… Do you remember your reaction when Gary Bettman took the podium at the 2022 draft to announce the Alex Romanov deal, just before saying that the Habs had moved to acquire Kirby Dach?

At the time, many were excited (and rightly so) to see a 3rd overall pick come to Montreal to help the team in the long term. But at the time, we didn’t know that Kirby was going to experience a number of physical difficulties, even though we clearly knew he had a significant injury history. Today, we can safely say that Dach “disappoints” in the context where we expected more from him. It’s a shame, but… that’s the way it is. This may be his last chance to make a name for himself in Montreal, as Marco D’Amico(The Shaun Starr Show) pointed out:[content-ads] Two things are important here.1. Jeff Gorton said at the end-of-season review that time is running out for Dach. He needs to step up, he needs to show that he can help the Habs in the short (and long) term… and he needs to show that the organization made the right decision in paying good money to get him from Chicago.2. Dach, at 24 (25 in January 2026) is entering the final year of his contract. He’ll be an RFA next summer… but he needs to give himself the chance to show that he deserves a new deal with the Montreal Canadiens. It’s now or never for Kirby Dach. We’ve seen him succeed in his first season with the Canadiens, as he has some really interesting – and intriguing – qualities for a player of his size. He’s got good hands, good vision… and he’s 6’4 and 221 lbs. Talented players like him are a rarity in the NHL these days. But Dach also has to prove himself in a way, even though he’s had a tough time with injuries over the past two years. It’s up to him to take things in hand… and that’s why it’ll be interesting to see how he fares at the team’s next training camp. It’s up to him, then. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Oh, yes!

– Good question.

– Papa Shea!